Robert Pitman: Texas judge orders 12 library books removed over LGBTQ and racial content to be returned to shelves
AUSTIN, TEXAS: Robert Pitman, a Texas judge has ordered 12 library books that were taken out of circulation to return to shelves immediately. These books were said to be having inappropriate content by lawmakers, which include ‘Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, ‘Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen’ by Jazz Jennings, and ‘They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group’ by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
"Although libraries are afforded great discretion for their selection and acquisition decisions, the First Amendment prohibits the removal of books from libraries based on either viewpoint or content discrimination," Judge Pitman said. In recent times, several groups have been debating over the legitimacy of banning books across the county and Texas State. It was two longtime friends Calzada, and Foote, who decided to fight against the lobby of Texas lawmaker, Republican Matt Krause. The latter had 850 books on his hit-list and worked to get them removed from the state’s libraries.
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'13,000 tweets with hashtag #txlege'
As a consequence, the duo with help of other supporters formed Freadom.us, an initiative supporting struggling librarian colleagues and guides for pushing action campaigns. Calzada, 57, and Foote, 63, managed to rally an army of book lovers on social media and in their communities in November 2021. They used the hashtag #txlege to garner the attention of the Texas legislature and started circulating their counter-message. Record 13,000 tweets went out with this hashtag, where people used it to share their personal stories on how books have impacted their lives positively.
'They are tools for understanding complex issues'
"Books shouldn't be contraband," Foote said, a former librarian from Austin. "We've lost our way in this contentious environment. We forgot what's at the core of libraries: getting kids excited about reading and seeing stories that reflect their lives." Foote further reflected on books and told CNN, "One of the powerful things about books is they are tools for understanding complex issues. If you look up the same issues on the internet, there isn't a container for it. You could end up reading anything anywhere, so books are safe places to understand complex issues." Calzada said, "It's not just adults—kids are speaking up about how books [on the banned lists] helped them.” The pair is a firm believer that the majority of people still value libraries and do not support banning books.
